he's all mine

 

  

i'm engaged! ah. it has almost been two months since my incredible, wonderful, amazing man asked me to marry him. you're probably as shocked as i am that he even considered it, but it's true! in september he came with my family and i to lake powell for our annual week long trip on the house boat. we've become fans of one area called "cookie jar" and that's where we spent our first few nights on the boat. but it was the first morning that we were there when alfred, unbeknownst to me woke up early with my parents and asked them if it would be okay for him to wake me up at such an early hour to take me for a walk. he "owed" me my birthday present and claimed he was giving it to me on our walk. and he did...only it was more than a birthday present. we hiked up as far as we could get and sat under the 400 foot canyon walls where he handed me the gift he had wrapped. of course i knew it was a book because...well, we all know what it is when a book is wrapped. but as i opened the front cover alfred slipped to one knee while my eyes got as wide as the canyons themselves when i saw the ring that was nestled in a hole he had cut to set it in just perfectly!! i couldn't believe my eyes. i opened to the first page of the journal and began to read the proposal he had written out, but made him finish because i couldn't read with tears in my eyes! when he actually asked the question, my answer was, "yes, of course!!" would it have been anything else? no way. we watched the sun come up over the bay and prayed together about the rest of our lives, asking God to bless us as He always has. i am the most blessed girl in the world. alfred loves me with all of his heart and with every bit of God's that he possibly can. he is so selfless and patient and humble. he is amazing and i can't stop thanking God for this gift. i hope and pray that i can love alfred like he loves me and with God's love being patient, and kind, and not envious or boastful or proud or rude, never keeping a record of wrong. never loving evil but rejoicing in the truth. always hoping and trusting and always persevering because there is nothing above this. alfred, i love you and i can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.

-a+b-

greatly missed and forever cherished

people say that a picture is worth a thousand words...this comes close to saying it all about our friend Al. amidst the tears we shed missing you and pouring out the love we have for your family we definitely find smiles on our faces remembering your smile and laughter that was never void when you were in the room. Barb, Ryan, Michelle, Amy & Forrest and Colleen & Erik...i hope you know you are loved and cherished on this day. you all carry on the heart and joy and vibrance of an incredible man and one day we will all sing and dance together in the presence of Jesus, the One who saves us. all my love...

catching up on life with friends

so...this was a much needed hike. i hadn't been up in the tetons in far too long so i rallied the troops and despite the fact that two of the three of us wanted to sleep in and play hookey we got up and headed out (we did decide to do a more simple hike to make the day a little easier). and although we weren't dying of heat or anything we decided to jump in the frigid creek...we're talking maybe 45 degrees...no joke. 

the same week my most amazing friend erin came in to town and we hit up the lake as well. this was erin's first time kayaking and she was a pro. mom, erin and i also did the awesome hidden falls hike. we had a blast and have the pictures to prove it...

jimmy and shannon-diamond cross ranch

congratulations to the beautiful couple. saturday i shot my first contracted wedding and during the reception i thought to myself, i have never had a better time at a wedding. i absolutely loved capturing the day for shannon and jimmy. and with that said, it was truly a beautiful wedding and celebration with awesome family and friends of the commitment between these two people. i want to say thank you to them for the opportunity to help tell the story of their day, and to tim, the head photographer for letting me work with him and to neill for lending his eye and his skills.

crazy thing

if you can imagine this...just hanging out at the lake this weekend we hear that some friends of ours have picked up this little fawn from the middle of the lake. the story goes that they saw this little guy fall from a cliff into the water and confused, start swimming away from shore. by the time they got to it, he was exhausted and wouldn't have made it much farther. he was completely docile and quiet as he laid in this beautiful woman's lap (no wonder the dear was comfortable...she's the mother of two, she knows a bit about comforting little ones). i don't know the end of the story, but hopefully the game and fish showed up to take care of it seeing as it no longer has a mother. 

wedding pics

well, i second shot this wedding for kat, my sis-in-law. sean, the groom, has been a friend of my brother's for a LONG time so it was fun to be involved. it was a fun jackson wedding totally laid back and of course great people and scenery. it's been almost a year, but i can still wish the happy couple, sean and stina, best wishes!

all of these are STOC, i've decided not to mess with them

   

back in the us of a

well, hello. i am back from ireland on my "home" turf...dc that is. i decided to throw up some pictures of the trip. they're a bit random, but a few of the ones that stuck out to me. the first two are of the girls and i at killiney beach which is south of dublin. we took a little drive to get out before our long flight back home. it was a nice little adventure.

there is a park called st. stephen's green that is very beautiful. there is a huge pond and a lot of different walkways that take you through green grass and trees and fountains. here are two resident swans that were trying to sleep in the midst of hundreds of people on out on a sunny day (a rare sunny day i might add...we were blessed with great weather).

this is just a random shot as i was walking from our hotel to the main strip, grafton street, where i did a little shopping and picture taking. 

cape st. claire

this is also a long over due post that i have a little time to catch up on while i am spending some down time in my hotel in ireland. after helping our friends ryan and shannon out with their back yard (ok...alfred helped while i got myself lost on a walk through their neighborhood) we jumped on the boat for the first time this year to enjoy the water before the sun went down. we caught the moon coming up right as we were leaving 

the irish sea

so this is my first time truly experiencing the irish sea. it's very beautiful. the clouds rolled in and just hung over the water only about 100 yards high. when they aren't there you can see land across the bay, or at least i think it's the bay. either way i am hoping to get out and get some more...these were just taking from the hotel room while i was watching the little munchkins. more from ireland later

                                        

 

   

a moment in time

before i headed off to ireland alfred and i met up with some friends, jesse and sarah, and headed down to a dock in northern virginia that looks across the river to our nations capital. we had a little fun taking some night time pictures...

 

 

a day in dc

so the parents came to washington, dc. who would have ever thought that my parents would go to washington, dc. we had a blast together and saw pretty much all that you could see! these are a few of the pictures of our day seeing the monuments. 

truly beautiful

i took this snap shot one handed on my way to work a couple weeks ago in jackson. i know that doesn't sound too professional, but i was late and stopping wasn't an option. i guess i could have silently enjoyed it and kept the colors and scenery tucked away in my own head, but it was too beautiful to pass up. despite it's blurriness and the faded colors...it was definitely more brilliant in my hard drive file, here it is.

the outdoors

here are a few of my landscape pictures although i have to admit, that is definitely my weakness

a few family pictures...this is my brother and his wife, Jesse and Leah, and their GORGEOUS baby girl, Addison Nicole. i love and miss them.

 

in attempt to catch up a little i will be posting some of my past favorites...and not so favorites. the first, definitely some in the favorite category, are some from a family shoot i did with my sister in law on Manhattan Beach in California. they are such a beautiful family it was hard to not get good pictures!

"it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life"...and thank God His mercies are new every morning!

mark it in the history books...i've started a blog. not just a blog, a true photography blog and that's why i am thanking God that His mercies are new every morning because i need major help in this learning process. so here goes...